Small Group Half Day Luang Prabang city tour

lay Buddhist to a Buddhist monk, nun, spiritually-developed person or other sentient being. It is not charity as presumed by Western interpreters. It is important to know the ceremony is also a spiritual practice to accumulate good karma for those who give the alms. It is closer to a symbolic connection to the spiritual realm and to show humbleness and respect in the presence of the secular society. The act of almsgiving connects the human to the monk and what he represents. The morning alms giving is a living Buddhist tradition for the people of Luang Prabang which, because of its beauty, has become a major tourist attraction. However, when tourists are unaware of its customs their inappropriate behaviors can be disruptive.

Luang Prabang morning market lining a couple of quiet streets near the Royal Palace, starts early and is over by mid-morning. It sets up along a couple of side-streets next to one of the city’s many Wats. A butcher and some of the more touristy stalls have actual tables for their wares. But most of the vendors, selling anything from rice, to fresh vegetables, to steamed fish, frogs, and anything else that might be the day’s catch, just set up on the ground. We go back to your accommodation and have a free time for breakfast until 8:30 am.

You will have a brief introduction to Luang Prabang, standing where the Nam Khan River meets the Mekong River. From there, walk to the famous Wat Xieng Thong temple.

ival and departure point for foreign dignitaries for centuries. We will walk up the stairs to the main gate and enter the temple like ancient dignitaries. Wat Xieng Thong, once known as “The Temple of the Golden City”, holds great cultural, historic and architectural importance. It is serenely situated near the tip of the peninsula at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers, with a grand staircase leading up from the Mekong. (Entrance fee 30,000 kip)

At Wat Sene, where there is a school for novice monks, you may meet again with novice monks you met on the morning alms. The temple was built in 1718 by King Kitsarath with 100,000 stones from the Mekong river. It literally means "Temple of 100,000 treasures"

The Royal Palace, which is today the national museum and built by French colonialists between 1904-09, displays a lovely collection of the artefacts reflecting the richness of Lao culture. (Entrance fee 60,000 kip) The tour will end in the city center or you will be transferred to your hotel.

Rising 150m in the centre of town, you enjoy spectacular 360 degree views across the city and its many temples, and over the surrounding landscape to the mountains in the distance. (Entrance fee 30,000 kip)